I was too young to appreciate Faith No More during their heyday in the late 80's/early 90's. I remember watching their video for "Epic" as a little kid and getting freaked out by the dying fish but that's about it. Flash forward to the mid 00's and a lot of my favorite mind fuck metal bands cite Faith No More as huge influences. The Dillinger Escape Plan's EP with Mike Patton is one of my favorite records ever. Needless to say, I did my homework and fell in love with Faith No More for myself. This short lived reunion after their 13 year hiatus/breakup/exile was an event I couldn't miss!
she had some moves!
The sold out venue waited for FNM to come out for what seemed like forever. No really, we waited HOURS. One of the opening bands was forced to back out so we got stuck standing around for a looong time. They had a midget comedian lady and some creepy magician come out and try to hold us over inbetween the first opening band the the eternity before FNM came onstage. Luckily, that first opening act was good...damn good. San Diego's The Creepy Creeps play a kind 60's psychedelic surf rock on acid that cannot be stopped. The dudes wore matching polyester tuxedos, masks and shaggy Ramones wigs. The icing on the cake were the go-go dancers they had on stage. The brunette near my side of the stage literally stole my soul with her dance moves. I honestly can't wait to see The Creepy Creeps again.
Get. That. Dirt off ya shoulder.
So after waiting a fortnight for them to rock our world's, Faith No More reunited before our eyes....playing Peaches and Herb's "Reunited" as their opening song. They immediately followed with "From Out of Nowhere" which turned The Palladium into a warzone. Really, I've been to tons of death metal shows and dealt with kung-fu fighting hardcore dancers in my time, but those all paled in comparison to the army of hyped up mid to late thirty year old's reliving their youth by moshing their balls off during Faith No More's reunion. Seriously, it was a sight to be seen. Watching the band rip through classics like "Caffeine," "Surprise You're Dead," and "We Care A Lot" was awesome, but rare songs like "Everything Ruined," and "Spirit" were even more special. The band's stage banter was hilarious, w/ Roddy Bottum rambling on and on about how old he is and Mike Patton speaking spanglish to the crowd and encouraging people to spit on him.
Speaking of Patton, holy Jesus his voice sounded amazingly strong. Stronger than any youtube clips had lead me to believe. The dude was belting shit out with some power. Especially during their oh so cheesy but always appreciated cover songs, like The Commodores "Easy," Burt Bacharach's "This Guys's in Love With You" and as you'll see in this clip, The Bee Gees' "I Started a Joke."
So the show was amazing. Yeah, I wished they didn't play so much material from their final record, Album of the Year since I'm pretty 'eh" about those songs; and wish they had played "The Real Thing" or "Zombie Eaters" or "Land of Sunshine" or....but overall, they still slayed! I'm glad I finally got to see the mighty Faith No More in concert. Hopefully they don't call it quits forever. One more thing, Mike Bordin aka "Puffy" may be rocking grey haired dreadlocks these days, but the dude still beats the hell out of his drums!
I've been a Weezer fan forever. Listening to their early material is the sonic equivalent of eating birthday cake, one of the most instantly gratifying experiences that almost anyone with a pulse will love. Their self titled debut album was a polished slab of rocking power pop, aka The Blue Album, and served as a critical/commercial smash back in the day, sounding like a long lost Beach Boys/KISS collaboration. Their follow up album Pinkerton was the anti-Blue Album: dark, raw and deeply personal. It alienated their mainstream fanbase, tanked on the album charts and prompted the band to take a several year hiatus. Too bad, because it's quite frankly the band's best album and has become a cult classic since it's initial release. So when I found out Weezer was playing Blue Album and Pinkerton in their entirety on their Memories Tour, I was STOKED to say the least. On this tour, the band played two nights in each city with a greatest hits set followed by an encore performance of the selected "classic" album. Heres my rundown for their LA tour stop:
LA natives/hipster darlings Best Coast opened both nights. We caught their full set on night Friday but missed them on Saturday due to rain/traffic. I really liked them even though my girlfriend and buddy who tagged along were "eh" about their performance. If Hole played 1950's surf rock, they would sound a lot like Best Coast.
So the modern day version of Weezer took the stage soon after. They blasted through a a greatest hits setlist of tunes in reverse chronological order. Starting off with their latest single "Memories" on both nights, then playing a mixed bag of tracks ranging from FML songs like "Beverly Hills" and "Troublemaker" (songs that make me question my undying loyalty to this band) to rare soundtrack cuts like "Suzanne" and "You Gave Your Love to Me Softly" that had everyone on their feet. They played a good number of Green Album songs and had Bethany from Best Coast come out and duet with Rivers on "Island In the Sun" on both nights. This I approved of, but having the fat dude from Lost come out and butcher "Perfect Situation" and "If You're Wondering If I Want You To," I could have lived without that. Josh Freese did an awesome job on drums though, allowing regular Weezer drummer pat to handle lead guitar while Rivers lived out his midlife crisis and ran around the stage/venue.
Alright, so the main course! Old school Weezer was back from the dead! Pat back on drums, Rivers singing/playing guitar and not making a fool of himself. Night 1's performance of the Blue Album was awesome but had a few flaws. The band seemed kind of winded from their earlier set and some of the energy was lacking, and Rivers seemed to have some vocal and guitar troubles during a few songs. Most noticeably during the show's closer, the 8 min I can't believe I'm finally seeing this song live, "Only In Dreams." I was a little bummed about this, but luckily they played "Only In Dreams" AGAIN as part of Night 2's greatest hits set and nailed it. Here's the proof:
They still play a good chunk of Blue Album songs live to this day (Buddy Holly, My Name is Jonas, Surf Wax, Undone, Say It Ain't So) so Night 1 wasn't really that much of an epic event other than celebrating the more obscure tracks like "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" "In the Garage" and "Holiday."
Especially "Holiday!" That's such a flawless song.
Night 2's performance of Pinkerton was amazing. Amazing because unlike Blue Album, the band almost NEVER plays any Pinkerton songs live so it was a real treat to finally see this stuff in person. Amazing because the band was fired up and and sounded great. "Tired of Sex" "Getchoo" "Across The Sea", all amazing to finally experience live. The sing along for "El Scorcho" was the probably the coolest concert experience of the year. Here's a clip of "Falling For You" from some chick with a waaay better seat than me.
Night 2's finale, Rivers playing "Butterfly" was spine chillingly awesome. Never in a million years did I expect to see this song performed live. Rivers Cuomo, the metal head turned alternative rock guru, playing the most stripped down/personal song from Pinkerton, the album that was bashed into oblivion some 13 years ago was greeted with rousing applause from thousands of fans when he finished on this night. Circle of life type shit right there.
Awesome shows. The icing on the cake was Rivers even dressing up in his vintage 90's clothes to try and look the part as well! I hope my old Weezer sticks around, I don't know how many more craptacular Make Believe or Raditude type albums I can take.
*side note*
I met Nicole Richie after Night 1's concert walking around Universal City Walk. She was surprisingly cute as hell in person.
Here's an awesome lil' tribute to the films of Quentin Tarantino, created by the uber talented folks at Bennett Media. If you love film, pop culture and random bits of adult entertainment *cough* porn *cough* then I highly recommend you keep tabs on their work.
So here's that video/tribute I promised. Blink and you'll miss it. No really...try not to blink until it's over.
Happy Christmas people. I'm not too found of holidays (and have a massive headache from work last night) but as much as I'd like to say "Bah Humbug" for Xmas, there's one thing that keeps me amped about today...
So here's to Santa, that immaculately conceived carpenter, and Kevin McCallister...enjoying a lovely cheese pizza all by himself.
Well, I've got to handle some last minute Christmas shopping. I just woke up like 40 mins ago (looooooong night at work) so I'm already behind on my itinerary...so here's a funny time waster video to fill in for my usual long and winded blog posts.
I have no idea who this Mike Diva character is other than the fact that he's kind of (very) annoying but the dude running around with the sax disrupting suburban life is an old acquaintance who I hadn't seen in some time and suddenly saw tearing it up on youtube. Strange...yet kind of funny.
this is a take on a SNL Digital Short called, The Curse, where actor Jon Hamm played a crazed Sexy Sax Man named Sergio who, well...click the link if you want to see.
And who could forget the epicness, of George Michael/Wham's original slow jam, "Careless Whispers"
Alright, I'm off to hell/shopping. Good luck trying to get that saxophone lick out of your head.
Superb. Clichéd. Brilliant. Hokey. People seem to either fall in love with or laugh their balls off when it comes to Black Swan. I'm in the first camp. Darren Aronofsky's latest film just might be his finest as far as I'm concerned, and from the director of Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler, that's saying something.
Matilda, on meth.
The film centers around Natalie Portman's character Nina, a 20-something ballerina with issues. She's repressed, uptight, obsessed with honing her craft and condemned to live with an overbearing mother (a failed ballerina herself) who still tucks her in at night and dresses her like a child. Miraculously, the dreary clouds of Nina's life seem to part as she gets the chance to audition for the lead in her company's new rendition of Swan Lake. Of course the greatest roadblock shes faces in landing the part is herself.
I'm usually hesitant when saying this, but everything about Black Swan is damn near flawless. Portman's tragic portrayal of Nina is easily her greatest performance to date, and Mila Kunis shines as Lily, the anti-Nina whose raw exuberance serves as one of the great catalyst for the films twisted plot. Aronofsky's use of hand held cameras provides the audience with a chilling, fly on the wall perspective yet simultaneously enhances the mania that ensues as Nina struggles with internal/external forces to become the Swan Queen. Oh yeah, and the dance sequences are amazing. The swooping camera work during these shots made me feel like I was on an insane roller coaster ride, while the booming score (the film's music mixed with elements of Tchaikovsky's original Swan Lake) creates the most heart palpitating soundtrack I've heard all year.
Some people might respond differently however. There were individuals who scoffed at the absurdity transpiring on screen. Perhaps they found Aronofsky's use of CGI gratuitous? I didn't. Maybe they expected a straight up ballerina catfight drama and got what cinealogue.com called, "...Showgirls meets Fight Club on crazy pills." As for me, well given Aronofsky's history of mind-fuckery (Pi, The Fountain, Requiem) I just threw my hands up and tossed any preconceptions to the wind and let Black Swan warp my brain and thoroughly kick my ass. Yes, that's right, a movie about a couple of 5'3 ballerinas kicked my ass. I laughed, I cringed (quite often) but mostly, I sat with my mouth aghast, marveling at the awesome slab of cinema unfolding before me. Film of the year? I think so.
So it's cold/gloomy/rainy here in Southern California and I love it. It's been coming down lightly for the past few days but today it really started pouring nicely. Here's some "rain music" I've been diggin' recently.
This song is kind of long but man, it might just change your life. Post-rock meets black metal meets medieval times in the bleak frozen tundra of the Pacific North West:
This song is more straight forward but rocking none the less. Simplistic yet haunting guitar work and a guttural bellow so deep you'd think this was a band of frost giants. These burly, Tolken inspired Vikings are close enough I suppose:
I did it again. I forgot to explain in my original 2nd Chances post that this will be an occasional segment where I discuss bands/albums/movies/whatever that I initially disliked but have since warmed up to. Today, I'm featuring Misery Index's latest album Heirs to Thievery. I had such high hopes for this record when it was released this past spring and was upset that my lofty expectations weren't met (initially). Before I go any further, I should clarify that Misery Index are easily one of my favorite bands around. In fact, I've been a Misery Index fan even before the band existed! After Dying Fetus released their masterpiece, Destroy the Opposition in 2000, 3/4 of the band's lineup quit and formed Misery Index. Toning down the death metal and amping up the grindcore/hardcore sound & ethos, Misery Index has been cranking out consistently awesome extreme music throughout the decade. That, and they're an amazing live act.
And now the album in question. My initial gripes with Heirs to Thievery were with its production and lack of urgency in its songs. The production is amazingly crisp/clear, with everything sounding equally mixed and balanced. That's the problem! Just about every other Misery Index release has been more raw (sometimes a little TOO raw with their EPs) and definitely more abrasive. Heirs to Thievery sounds sterile in comparison. About the songwriting, I remember spinning this CD in the car for the first time and just waiting, waiting to be sonically kicked in the teeth only to find my audible beating never arrived. Misery Index's penchant for frequent time changes and body movin' grooves are still present, but it seems that this album was less about pushing the extreme music envelope and more about cruising through the band's established strengths.
As we near the end of the year and I begin compiling my annual Top 10 lists I couldn't help but give Heirs to Thievery another shot. After numerous recent spins, I've gotten over my initial qualms with the album and now except this record for what it is, a slamming piece of extreme metal. I think watching them play some of the new stuff on their last tour helped win me over also. Shit was awesome live. So yes, the record might sound more reserved due to it's production and there's less blast beats than I would have liked (there's still a lot, I'm just retarded) but it's not the end of the world. The list of guest vocals on the album feature the singers from Dying Fetus, Hate Eternal and Criminal Element, and it's always cool hearing scary sounding dudes scream along with other scary sounding dudes. So in conclusion, I eat a bag of crow and now fully endorse Heirs to Thievery. Is this my favorite Misery Index album? Probably not. Is it a damn good album and does this band still rule beyond belief? Yes.
Here's one of my favorite tracks, where the face melting comes into full effect:
and as a bonus, here's Misery Index's inhuman cyborg drummer Adam playing the album's title track live. I'm scared he's going to explode at one of the band's shows one day. Just LOOK at him:
Hello hello there! Looks like lil' o' Jim's Fear bloggy blog has reached over 200 followers. Thanks people...although a large portion of my original first 100 subscribers seemed to have vanished from cyber space (Hmmmmm, I WONDER WHY?), I appreciate you long timers and knew folks alike for putting up with my horrible taste in "music, cinema and whatever else I feel like." I should finally post the massive live review/nerd rant for the Weezer and Faith No More concerts I attended oh so long ago. Also, more Female Obsession and Crunch Time posts lined up. So thanks again, and here's to the next 100 .
Yesterday marked the 9th anniversary of Chuck Schuldiner's death. Who was Chuck Schuldiner? He was the vocalist, lead guitarist and mastermind behind Death, the pioneering Florida metal band who helped create the sub-genre of Death Metal. Despite his band's simple name and the rather primitive nature of his early works, there is no doubt that Chuck Schuldiner was one of the greatest metal musicians of all time. Each new Death album saw Chuck's songwriting, vocal delivery and guitar skills progress so rapidly that by 1991's album Human, you could hardly believe this was the same band that released their 1987 debut, Scream Bloody Gore. Aside from Chuck, it wasn't the same band. Schuldiner was the only constant within Death. He always changed the group's lineup, acquiring a new roster of all star musicians for each album. It's the later, progressive era of Death that tickles my fancy. Strange jazzy interludes mixed with insane time changes, machine gun like double bass drumming, and jaw dropping guitar wizardry.
Here's an example of early Death from 1988's Leprosy album. It's plodding, heavy and eerily catchy. Note Schuldiner's almost tortuous vocal delivery. It remains one of the most distinctive in extreme metal today, the "Chuck voice."
Here's later an example of the more progressive/technical later era Death from 1993's Individual Thought Patterns.
Chuck died on December 13, 2001 from complications of brain cancer. He was 34 years old. I was still a Padawan metal head at this point so Chuck's passing wasn't that big of a deal to me then. When I eventually discovered the awesomeness that was Death, I felt great sadness regarding his premature end. It wasn't until recent years that I began to feel anger regarding Chuck's death.
Chuck Schuldiner was not a wealthy man. Like most extreme metal musicians, you might have categorized him as a "starving artist." Needless to say, he did not have health insurance. Chuck was diagnosed with a brain stem tumor in 1999 and although it nearly bankrupted his family, managed to successfully battle his cancer. Two year later his cancer returned and despite the fact that he was now insured, his HMO initially stalled on urgently needed treatment due to his preexisting condition, his original brain tumor. Chuck eventually received chemotherapy but died of pneumonia as a result of his weakened immune system from his treatment.
I know it's kind of ironic that the frontman of a band called Death would pass away at such a young age, but that makes Chuck's death no less tragic. He wasn't murdered or taken by some freak accident. He was a citizen of the wealthiest nation on Earth who slowly rotted away due to lack of medical care. Was his death the insurance companies (or anybody's) fault? No...but they sure didn't rush to help him in his time of need either. This knowledge of Chuck's final days, and the fact that there are so many others in America in similar situations nearly a decade later is what upsets me now.
This past summer Adam Darski aka: Nergal, the frontman for modern day death metal heroes Behemoth, announced he was battling leukemia and was in need of a bone marrow transplant. Luckily, Darski has apparently found a match and is receiving treatment in his native Poland...where universal healthcare is available to its citizens. Darksi will turn 34 in June. Hopefully he lives a long and fruitful life well past his 30's. Chuck wasn't so lucky.
The Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision celebrated (and I use the term loosely) it's 10 year anniversary last night. Putting our political inclinations aside, I think it's safe to say that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Jews, Gypsies, etc., can all agree that George W. Bush's presidency was the worst thing to happen to America since....oh let's just say The Civil War. During the 2008 elections even the most hardlined conservatives distanced themselves from Bush like he had the plague. They knew what was up, the Bush Administration not only dropped the ball, they annihilated it. But this is not a Anti-Bush rant.
ManBearPig has WMDs!
Could you imagine a Back to the Future type alternate timeline, where the Supreme Court handed Gore the presidency in 2000? Would 9/11 have happened? The war's in Iraq & Afghanistan? Would Gore have allowed the continued deregulation of Wall Street that Clinton and Bush seemed to have no problem with. Would the auto industry have tanked (even more so) with President Gore stuffing electric cars down our throats? Would Vice President Lieberman have morphed into the same asshole as the present day Senator Lieberman? Would we have finally killed ManBearPig? Just thinking about this boggles the mind.
The Bush v. Gore decision is tragic for two reasons. First, because it exposed that the supposedly neutral arm of the Judicial Branch was just as worthless as the rest of the partisan hacks in D.C. (handing Bush the presidency in a 5/4 split...fragmented along party lines). In his dissenting opinion, Justice Stevens wrote:
Time will one day heal the wound to that confidence that will be inflicted by today's decision. One thing, however, is certain. Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law.
Second, because it opened the Pandora's Box of mistakes and regrets that we all lived through under Bush. Would Gore have done any better? Who knows? Politicians have a knack for saying one thing and then doing the exact opposite, like the Pussy-In-Chief Obama who's backslid on just about everything he campaigned on in 2008 but that's a whole other rant. 10 years later and one thing remains perfectly clear, the American people did not get who they voted for. That goes for all the Bush supporters as well. I mean, technically, they voted for this guy:
Imagine if HE ran the country from 2000-20008? Shit might not have been so bad...
I went and saw Black Swan the other night. Awesome film. Loved it. Darren Aronofsky strikes again. I'll have a full review up eventually. Natalie Portman gives an amazing (although restrained...which is the nature of her character) performance but I walked out of the theater spell bound by Mila Kunis. Yeah she's hot, but this was the first real/serious performance I've seen from her and was blown away. I walked out thinking, she's come a long way from That 70's Show, which I never really watched. Then I remembered she had a role on a short lived mid 1990's sitcom called Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher. Some goofy white dude who acted black taught some wacky kids and hilarity was supposed to ensue. I don't really remember much about this show other than it was on The WB in the 90's so it probably sucked. I just remember Mila Kunis' character was like a 12 year old version of Snooki from Jersey Shore...with a reeeeaaaallly annoying voice.
So I went and googled Nick Freno the next day and was sad to learn that the dude who played him, comedian Mitch Mullany had died back in 2008. From a diabetic related stroke or something. That bummed me out, but then I watched a clip of his stand up on youtube and saw the guy was actually funny. Like really funny. So now I'm really bummed about this.
R.I.P. man. And thanks Black Swan/Mila Kunis for leading me down this sad path of discovery.
It's Crunch Time people! Yes, here comes yet another gushing rant where I pine over one of my favorite Metal riffs. Today's installment features the criminally underrated Metalcore heroes, Burnt By The Sun. Puzzled. That was my initial reaction to this band after first seeing this video. What was that? Loud and angry, yet eerily reserved. The singer looks "normal" yet sounds like some kind of punk rock/bull dog hybrid. The drummer is blasting with one foot? Is this grindcore? Why do the guitars sound like Lynyrd Skynyrd?! A thousand thoughts raced through my head after seeing the video for "Forlani," the most important being that, I liked this. A liked this A LOT. Years later, after Burnt By The Sun broke up in 2004, reunited and broke up again in 2009 I still always come back to the hauntingly awesome guitar intro that becomes drilled into your skull through repetition as the song unfolds. It's only three seconds long but has ruled my life for years. Check it out:
Thats the stuff! Damn that little thrashy ending gets nasty doesn't it? Dave Witte's cymbal chokes at the end are the icing on the cake for me. Anyways, Hope you enjoyed this piece of Crunch Time. If you're interested in more of Burnt By The Sun's off kilter metal/hardcore jams try their 2003 album The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good. Bonus points for the Voltaire reference.
Ah, Kristen Bell. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Seriously. I've been sick this week and watching Kristen Bell clips on youtube has been the only thing keeping me alive. See, I had planned on going to the taping of The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson the other day, when the not only beautiful but ridiculously hilarious Kristen Bell was the scheduled guest but alas, I could barely get out of bed and missed this epic milestone in television history. For those of you who don't know...Ms. Bell has been on The Late Late Show something like 16 or 17 times. Often without anything to promote or talk about. The chemistry between her and Craig is unbelievable. They can and often do, go on wild tangents for extended periods of time that makes for fascinating television. It doesn't hurt that Kristen Bell is cute as hell either. Here's a clip of the show I missed out on this week =/
I had never watched an episode of her old show Veronica Mars before. My girlfriend watchedher on Heroes but I never did. It wasn't until her movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall that I actually saw Kristen Bell act in anything. That being said, I had still be smitten with her for years thanks to the power of the internetz and photos like this:
OH LAWD
Shes beautiful. No doubt about it, but once I actually heard her voice and watched her onscreen for myself it was over. Female Obsession was born. As I learned more about her quirky/nerdy qualities over the years and saw how freaking funny she is in interviews, I couldn't help but fall even MORE in love. I mean, just look at her dressed up as Princess Leia in Fanboys. DROOL. You want more? More geeky shit? Alright, here's a clip of Kristen Bell behind the scenes from her Complex photo shoot a few years back. She's in a robe presumably half naked underneath and geeking out with some dudes while searching Youtube. Watch:
inb4 Bel-Air? TOO LATE! Kristen Bell's extended Fresh Prince lyrics FTW people. Oh yeah...she can sing/dance too. It kills me knowing she's engaged to that retarded blonde guy from Punk'd who I shall never refer to by name. Whats the world coming too?! She should be with ME dammit...or maybe Craig Ferguson. Yeah, me or him Kristen, no one else! I even love her wonky eye!
So here's to the lovely Kristen Bell. I swear I'll make it down for your next Late Late Show appearance!
Whats that? You want me to stay in bed all day with you Nurse?
So I'm sick again. For those of you who don't know I have the shittiest immune system ever. My friends dubbed me the "walking virus" back in middle school because I was always coming down with something. After an awesome string of days not working, seeing Weezer and Faith No More in concert and just enjoying myself in general, I guess all the excitement (and COLD FUCKING AIR) finally caught up with me. Forgive the lapse in blogging for the next few days. I'll post reviews for those shows (they ruled so hard) and get back to following you all when my nose clears, throat moistens and head stops spinning. In the meantime, I'm waiting for my special treatment to arrive:
